U.S. Rep. Edward Markey’s proposal came as federal investigators said they had found contamination — this time, bacterial — in two more drugs produced by the New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Mass., a community in Markey’s district.

“Compounding pharmacies have been governed by fragmented regulations for too long, leading to the worst public health disaster in recent memory,” Markey said.

He said his bill, which will be formally filed today, would end “this regulatory black hole by giving the FDA new clear authority to protect patients.”

Tainted methylprednisolone from New England Compounding has been blamed in a fungal meningitis outbreak that has killed 28, including 11 in Tennessee, and sickened 386 people in 19 states.

Under Markey’s proposal, states would retain the right to regulate small traditional compounding operations as long as there was a valid prescription on hand for a specific patient and the pharmacist used federally approved ingredients.

But compounding operations such as NECC, which produce large amounts of compounded drugs, would be subject to the same requirements as major pharmaceutical companies.

The bill would allow for temporary waivers for community pharmacies or hospitals to compound small amounts of drugs in advance of actual prescriptions. Waivers also would be allowed in the event of a shortage of a particular drug or to protect the public health in an emergency.

Generally, compounders would be barred from producing drugs that are commercially available, but waivers could be granted in the event of a shortage.

Another provision would require that the FDA create a master list of drugs that cannot be compounded safely.

Additionally, all compounded drugs would have to be labeled to ensure that patients are aware that the product has not been tested for safety by the FDA.

A bill similar to Markey’s was proposed in 2007 but it never passed.

New bacillus found

Several different strains of bacillus were found in a steroid and a medicine used in heart surgery that were produced by New England Compounding, the FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The bacteria, commonly found in soil, were in three lots of the steroid betamethasone and one lot of cardioplegia solution, which is used to slow or stop the heart during surgery.

The CDC said it has not received any reports of infections from the medications and it still is testing those lots for fungal contamination.

The latest test results “reinforce the FDA’s concern about the lack of sterility in products produced at NECC’s compounding facility,” the agency said.

Massachusetts adopts new rules

In Massachusetts Thursday, the state Pharmacy Board adopted emergency regulations to require that drug compounding firms file reports every six months showing how many prescriptions have been dispensed and disclosing to which states the drugs were shipped.

In addition, the pharmacies will be required to report within seven business days any adverse events relating to the preparation of their medications.

The rules also give the state power to issue cease-and-desist and quarantine orders in the event of a public health emergency.

In a related development, Acting Massachusetts Health Commissioner Dr. Lauren Smith named Christian A. Hartman, an expert in pharmacy practice and patient safety, to lead a new commission to study and make recommendations on regulation of drug compounders.